I sneezed loudly.
Jules grabbed the flowers out of my hand. “I’ll take these.”
Mr. Easton watched the exchange, and I knew he picked up on the fact that I was allergic to the red roses, while Bradford was oblivious to the fact.
“Why would you take them?” Bradford asked as Mr. Easton cleared his throat.
“Because I borrowed Rachel’s vase, so I’ll put them in water when I get home. Just in case you go to Rachel’s house and not yours.”
It was the worst explanation, but Bradford once again let it go.
“No celebrating for me. I have plans tonight. You two lovebirds have a blast,” Jules said, chewing on her lip.
“Call me if you need me, okay?” I said. I had momentarily forgotten what Jules’ plans were for the night, but I wanted to let her know she had my support.
“I’ll be fine, Mom,” she joked as the elevator dinged and slid open. “And call me if anything happens.” Jules strutted out, but before she made it three steps she glanced back.
“Oh, and, Bradford, Rachel’s nails are freshly manicured if there’s any special pictures you need to take.” With that she winked and sauntered out of the lobby, taking every man and woman’s attention with her.
Mr. Easton coughed, and I glanced back at him to see the scowl of the century gracing his infuriating face.
“Goodnight, Mr. Easton,” I called out as Bradford intertwined our hands, checking out my demure French manicure.
“Goodnight, Ms. Rachel,” was his stuffy response.
“It was nice meeting you, Mr. Easton. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other again since you’ll be working with my girl.”
“Actually, I don’t think I’ll ever see Ms. Rachel again, being that it will be my niece’s project her company is working on. I have more important things to do than watch over a silly project.”
Bradford’s hand contracted on my lower back. Confusion clouded his face at Mr. Easton’s hostility. I smiled even wider.
With no further comment, Bradford and I headed to the left as Mr. Easton slid into a sleek black SUV that was illegally idling in front of the building.
Chapter 5
“Where to?” Bradford asked. “Are you hungry?”
I wasn’t. I should have been starving, but our encounter with Mr. Easton had me feeling untethered.
“Can we just go back to one of our places and order in?”
“Don’t want to share me?” Bradford teased as he pulled me closer to him.
“Nope, not even a little bit. I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I’ll meet you at your place. I want to be surrounded by you and all your stuff.”
I smiled, my nervous system calming the farther away Mr. Easton got.
I took long, deep breaths and let them out slowly as I followed Bradford’s Jeep to my house in my Mustang. When breathing didn’t work, I turned on my favorite ska playlist and sang at the top of my lungs until I parked right next to Bradford.
His golden hair caught the remaining rays of the setting sun. He was gorgeous and it pissed me off how much I’d let Mr. Easton ruin my mood when my amazing boyfriend was back from his long work trip.
“Mexican?” he asked, unlocking my door with his key.
“Perfect. I’m going to go get changed while you order.” I kissed him before going into my room and changing into a tiny tank top, no bra, and matching shorts.
Bradford looked up from the couch when he heard me walk in, his blue eyes dilating when he saw me.